I used to be a news junkie. I followed all the cable news and network news agencies including several foreign news agencies. Each news channel and agency would "spin" the news as dictated by their funding sources and respective political agendas. The same "news" event became so convoluted that it became almost impossible to rationally determine the real factual story. When Al Jazeira/USA seemed to be the best news reporting information source for that lost Philippine commercial airliner I gave it up. I do not really follow any of them anymore for the sake of my tenuous sanity. I do not trust any of the news agencies for accurate and honest reporting. I may like some of the reporting talking heads in each and every news source, but on the whole I find them all irresponsible reporters.
Awesome pictures of the old tractors. When the "running" tractors destined for the Cummington Fair Tractor Display/Show drive by our house I go outside to watch those beautiful old (and not so old) relics drive by.
Bird- I find your perspective about the reality of legal deterence of criminal activity interesting and accurate. I never looked at the "problem" from that perspective before- Thank you for expanding "my box."
Randy- You are welcome. How a person handles catastrophic personal loses and personal and family challenges is a testiment of their character. You may be a "character", but you seem to be a good one.

There seem to be a lot of "characters" here :wink:
American ingenuity once the greatest in the world seems to be losing it's global competitive edge in many areas for a lot of reasons mostly of our own making including the lax protection of our own private corporate and governmental R&D "secrets" from foreign countries (mostly unfriendly).
Complacency be it personal, societal, or governmental never leads to good outcomes in the longterm.
Ed- What is happening to your Mom is scary. I hope that she succesffully recovers with treatment. Hopefully your wife and child will recover soon and w/o complications Please take are of yourself as well as you care for your family. You owe it to yourself and your family. You're of no help to anyone if you end up really getting wick or worse. It's OK to take care of yourself (easier posted than done).
My + thoughts, wishes, and prayers for all.
Pura Vida.